Because, let’s face it, socialized medicine / universal health care has been one of Teddy’s raisons d’etre for many years now. What if he had pushed it through, and the US healthcare system was very much like what they have over in England? Not exactly schadenfreude, though it’s hard not to feel a little smirk of “serves ya right” when reading Duane’s post:

Ted rides to the nearest hospital and his ambulance parks outside the building, but he is not unloaded. Instead he sits. And sits. And sits. For nearly five hours, Kennedy waits in the ambulance, “in a holding pattern”, waiting to be allowed in the hospital. He can’t be allowed in because the hospital can’t treat him immediately, and they have a government mandate that says patients have to be treated within four hours of admission. So rather than being treated right away, Kennedy is stacked outside the hospital in an ambulance. During that time, other 911 emergencies are left unattended by his ambulance because it is being used to meet government regulations.

Go over to the All American Blogger and read the rest. And leave a comment. Tell him BMEWS sent you.

Posted by Drew458     on 05/22/2008 at 09:49 PM   
Filed Under: • Health-Medicine •  
• Comments (3) • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink •  

   Friday - May 09, 2008

hard choices

I haven’t blogged about the disaster in Myanmar/Burma up until now. It’s a terrible tradgedy, even though it’s an expected one. That whole part of the world over there along the shores of the Indian Ocean is subject to terrible seasonal storms. Worse, it’s the arc of abject poverty; one of the poorest areas anywhere, from Bangledesh all the way around and down to Inodnesia. I even took a pass on AlGore’s all-too-expected hissy fit that blamed Global Worming for the storm. Myanmar itself is a hell hole. What could be, and used to be, a great little tropical country has fallen under tyranny and is now nearly a slave state. Google up “blood rubies” if you want more on that. The military junta that runs the country doesn’t like foreigners. We’re all spies ya know.

So while the news reports about this catastrophe have grown increasingly more dire - 10,000 dead, 30,000 dead, 100,000 dead - the other news stories have shown that a huge multinational relief effort has been given a hard time. Cuz they’re all spies too ya know.

Now it looks like a line has been drawn in the mud: the Myanmar government has seized the aid supplies and told the aid workers to take a hike. It’s not like this place is the USA, with endless assets and money, No, this is the place that helps make the Third World the Turd Wurld. They’ll take the stuff, but they don’t want any help, thank you very much. And being a despotism, they really don’t give a shit if more of their people die and lie around rotting.

UN halts aid to Myanmar after junta seizes supplies
YANGON, Myanmar - Myanmar’s junta seized U.N. aid shipments Friday meant for a multitude of hungry and homeless survivors of last week’s devastating cyclone, forcing the world body to suspend further help.
The aid included 38 tons of high-energy biscuits and arrived in Myanmar on Friday on two flights from Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates.

“All of the food aid and equipment that we managed to get in has been confiscated,” U.N. World Food Program spokesman Risley said.

“For the time being, we have no choice but to end further efforts to bring critical needed food aid into Myanmar at this time,” he said.

At least 62,000 people are dead or missing in Myanmar, entire villages are submerged in the Irrawaddy delta and aid groups warned that the area is on the verge of a medical disaster.

The U.N. has grown increasingly critical of Myanmar’s military rulers’ refusal to let foreign aid workers into the country while the junta appeared overwhelmed and more than 1 million homeless people waited for food, medicine and shelter.

“The frustration caused by what appears to be a paperwork delay is unprecedented in modern humanitarian relief efforts,” Risley said. “It’s astonishing.”

The junta said in a statement Friday it was grateful to the international community for its assistance — which has included 11 chartered planes loaded with aid supplies — but the best way to help was just to send in material rather than personnel.

Nearly a week after the storm, survivors are now having to contend with rotting corpses of people and animals as they wait for food, clean water and medicine.

“Many are not buried and lie in the water. They have started rotting and the stench is beyond words,” Anders Ladekarl, head of the Danish Red Cross.

So what is it that we have here? Is this merely politics, where a weak country is being trampled by pushy UN folks coming in and taking over? Or will the thugs who run Myanmar just steal the food for themselves or to sell, and leave the citizens to rot? Where does sovereignty draw the line when it comes to disasters far beyond the ability of a country to deal with? Should they be FORCED to open their borders to WorldMed Inc, for their own good? Having been rebuffed, should the world get uppity and say “Well fine. Screw you guys, I’m going home.” and just leave these people to die?

These are hard things to think about, and there are some hard choices to make here. Where do you think the moral line is? If you were the world, what would you do?

Posted by Drew458     on 05/09/2008 at 08:09 AM   
Filed Under: • Border Security • Climate-Weather • Health-Medicine •  
• Comments (7) • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink •  

   Thursday - April 17, 2008

Baldness not disability, ‘harassed’ teacher told

With all the very serious stuff posted last day or so, I was a bit shy about posting this stupid thing but then I remembered ....
we are on the lookout for Moonbats. Yes?

I think this fellow qualifies and wanna bet politically he’s a libral?

By Auslan Cramb, Scottish Correspondent
Last Updated: 1:26am BST 17/04/2008

Baldness is not a disability, an employment tribunal has ruled, after a former teacher complained he was harassed by his pupils and called “baldy”.

James Campbell argued his baldness had a severe effect on him and his career

James Campbell, 61, said schoolchildren perceived his lack of hair as a sign of weakness and told the hearing that he was a victim of disability discrimination.

But the tribunal in Glasgow decided that being bald could not be regarded as an “impairment”. Robert Gall, the tribunal’s employment judge, added: “It seems to me to take the definition of impairment too far if baldness of itself is to be regarded as being an impairment.

“If baldness was to be regarded as an impairment then perhaps a physical feature such as a big nose, big ears or being smaller than average height might of themselves be regarded as an impairment.”

The retired school teacher, who is also claiming unfair dismissal against Falkirk council, claimed his baldness had a “substantial and long term adverse effect” on his ability to do his job.

(okay folks, all together now. mememe .... clear throat ....  On Top Of Old Baldeeeee .....  oh, never mind.)

Mr Campbell, from Falkirk, added that while baldness might seem unimportant to some people, the effect it had on him and his career was severe.

Mr Campbell told the tribunal said: “How can I stand in front of a class with confidence to get on with my job when I am getting teased and bullied about baldness, when I think they are laughing at me all the time?”

Mr Campbell, who taught at Denny High School, Stirlingshire, said he did his best to avoid corridors, where he would meet pupils who shouted “baldy” at him, and left school late every day to “avoid the kids”.

The teacher claimed that because the children were prepared to call him names to his face he was always concerned that they could also assault him.

But Falkirk council argued that baldness was not a physical or mental impairment and was therefore not covered by the Disability Discrimination Act.

The council also told the tribunal that no depression or other medical condition was said to exist as a result of baldness.

Mr Campbell’s constructive and unfair dismissal claim against Falkirk council will be considered by the tribunal at a later date.

http://tinyurl.com/44s8jy

Posted by peiper     on 04/17/2008 at 05:21 PM   
Filed Under: • Health-Medicine • Stoopid-People •  
• Comments (4) • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink •  

   Saturday - April 12, 2008

HELL WEEK IS ALSO PULLING YOUR OWN TEETH

This story is from, The Hampshire Chronical, Winchester, Englandhttp://tinyurl.com/4s54h6

Gran performs own dentistry
IN agony for days and without a dentist willing to see her, Elizabeth Green felt she had no choice but to pull out her own teeth.

The Winchester grandmother was in such pain with the two front teeth she wiggled them back and forth for several hours with her fingers until they came away.

The 76-year-old widow has spoken of her anger at being forced to become a do-it-yourself dentist due to the lack of NHS dental care in her area.

Mrs Green, a retired chef, of Westman Road, Weeke, said: “The teeth had became loose and very painful. I used Yellow Pages to ring around Winchester dentists, but they all said sorry, we are not taking any new NHS patients’.

“I explained I was in pain and all they said was take painkillers’. The teeth got more painful, and I couldn’t take it any longer. I moved the teeth back and forwards, and twisted them and pulled them out.

“I feel angry. I worked all my life and paid taxes and then when I want something I can’t get it.

“It’s terrible. It’s like something from the past. When I was growing up in Germany my mother would put string around our teeth and say look away’ and pull them out.”

She said throughout her life she had always looked after her teeth, but never been registered with a dentist because of the cost and because she felt there was no need.

“I do regret it, but I needed the money,” she said.

“I was always in debt and never had much to live on,” said the mother-of-five and grandmother of 11.

Helen Clanchy, area director of commissioning (primary care) for Hampshire PCT, said: “We are very concerned to hear that this patient felt they had no option left but to take this drastic action.

“Hampshire PCT has a dental helpline that is able to offer patients who are unable or have chosen not to register with a NHS dentist, same day appointments for emergency treatment.

“Members of the public who use this service would need to pay the usual charges unless they are entitled to free NHS dental treatment.”

Mrs Green has since taken her plight to Martin Tod, prospective Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Winchester, who has now arranged for her to join a waiting list of a dentist in Andover.

Mr Tod said: “It’s a shocking story, an indictment of the current situation.

“We’ve now reached the point where a pensioner felt forced to pull out two of her own teeth because they can’t get access to a local NHS dentist.

“It’s appalling and it’s a health timebomb. We’re laying down major problems for the future.”

Mr Tod added that a more flexible dental contract was needed to encourage dentists back into the NHS, and urged local primary care trusts to take urgent action.

Posted by peiper     on 04/12/2008 at 04:31 PM   
Filed Under: • Health-Medicine •  
• Comments (5) • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink •  

   Thursday - April 03, 2008

Dengue Fever outbreak in Brazil

Dengue fever outbreak in Brazil, tens of thousands infected. This mosquito-borne virus is spreading across the state of Rio De Janiero, and the numbers have been climbing for the last few weeks. Early reports said 30,000 infected, then 47,000, now 67,000. Death tolls are small but climbing; latest reports say 67 dead. Owing to a lack of available doctors, Brazil has called out the Army to help treat the sick.

There is no cure for this hemorrhagic fever, though most people infected with it get better in a couple weeks. Treatment includes ensaids (pain relievers and fever reducers, ie aspirin) and IV drip to replace fluids lost.

US National Institute of Health describes the disease as

Dengue fever is an infectious disease carried by mosquitoes and caused by any of four related dengue viruses. This disease used to be called “break-bone” fever because it sometimes causes severe joint and muscle pain that feels like bones are breaking, hence the name. Health experts have known about dengue fever for more than 200 years.

Symptoms of typical uncomplicated (classic) dengue usually start with fever within 4 to 7 days after you have been bitten by an infected mosquito and include

* High fever, up to 105ºF
* Severe headache
* Retro-orbital (behind the eye) pain
* Severe joint and muscle pain
* Nausea and vomiting
* Rash

The rash may appear over most of your body 3 to 4 days after the fever begins, and then subsides after 1 to 2 days. You may get a second rash a few days later.

Symptoms of dengue hemorrhagic fever include all of the symptoms of classic dengue plus

* Marked damage to blood and lymph vessels
* Bleeding from the nose, gums, or under the skin, causing purplish bruises

This form of dengue disease can cause death.

Symptoms of dengue shock syndrome--the most severe form of dengue disease--include all of the symptoms of classic dengue and dengue hemorrhagic fever, plus

* Fluids leaking outside of blood vessels
* Massive bleeding
* Shock (very low blood pressure)

This form of the disease usually occurs in children (sometimes adults) experiencing their second dengue infection. It is sometimes fatal, especially in children and young adults.

CNN carries a short AP story that Brazil is considering appealing to Cuba for doctors, after the state of Rio got 154 doctors from other parts of the country. They need more.

I think this may be a case for a good spray of DDT, and damn the theoretical environmental reprocussions. This may actually already be taking place:

More than 57,000 people have been infected in a dengue fever outbreak in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro state, with 67 fatalities recorded so far, regional health authorities say.

The tourist city of Rio was worst hit by mosquito-borne epidemic, with 44 of the deaths and 36,600 of the infections occurring there.  Another 58 deaths are being investigated to see if they were caused by dengue fever, whose symptoms are high temperatures and muscle aches.  In extreme cases, haemorrhage and death can follow. Children are especially at risk and no vaccine is yet commercially available.

Rio Governor Sergio Cabral says he may appeal to Cuba for doctors to help treat patients, many of whom have been sent to tent hospitals set-up by the army to cope with the large number of people affected.

Around 1,200 military personnel have joined health service staff in fumigating areas that may contain mosquito colonies. (AFP story)

As is to be expected, some people there are blaming the government, while others blame the poor people. Favelas, or shantytowns, are the unplanned, homemade jury rigged ghettos that surround most urban areas in Brazil. Living conditions there are utterly abhorent, with little or no running water, no sanitation, rampant crime, extreme fire risk, etc.

“I think that the state and municipal governments here were irresponsible in the way they handled this, because they didn’t do anything until the problem was already out of control,” said Isabel Belo, 35, whose ill 11-year-old daughter was hooked up to an IV bag. “Now, everyone is just trying to pass the blame around to someone else.”

According to dengue experts, the outbreak can be largely attributed to the rise of hundreds of unplanned, densely populated shantytowns in Rio.

Wellington Sun, chief of the dengue branch for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the demographic shifts that turned Latin America from mostly rural to predominantly urban in recent decades have given the dengue-carrying mosquito a perfect environment in which to thrive. The mosquito needs only a tiny amount of standing water to breed—even a piece of crumpled plastic garbage is enough, Sun said. Eliminating breeding pools is very difficult in areas where trash collection is infrequent and water and sewer services are lax.

“The mosquito—Aedes aegypti-- has found a very favorable environment in cities where there has been fast growth without the corresponding infrastructure,” said Jarbas Barbosa, a Brazilian doctor who is the head of health surveillance and disease management for the Pan-American Health Organization. “In a lot of neighborhoods in Rio, for example, they store water on their houses because they don’t have 24-hour, seven-days-a-week water service.”

Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva takes a unity approach and says the whole country has to pull together to fight the disease

“It’s the responsibility of the president, the governor, the mayor and each resident of this country,” Lula said. “If we don’t clean up the water in our home, our street, our city, our state, we will all be victims of irresponsibility.”

Dengue fever is not limited to the tropics. There are cases in the US every year, though few, and most are people who have just come back from other countries. But this story is a grim reminder to check your property for standing water and other skeeter breeder areas.

Posted by Drew458     on 04/03/2008 at 10:14 AM   
Filed Under: • Health-Medicine •  
• Comments (0) • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink •  

   Thursday - January 24, 2008

ANOTHER FREEBE FROM THE NANNY STATE?  WHY NOT?  The Taxpayer has too damn much money anyway.

Check out the link and get a load (no pun) of the photograph but mostly, interesting letters from the citizens on the subject.
They’re talking about spending the equiv. of $100 BILLION on this.

Should fat people be paid to lose weight?Thursday, January 24, 2008
Daily Telegraph

Fat people will be offered cash incentives to lose weight and take exercise as part of a new Government strategy to tackle the obesity epidemic, which could ultimately cost the NHS £50bn a year to treat.

Employers will be encouraged to set up competitions with cash, vouchers and other rewards for people taking up a healthier lifestyle.

Similar schemes have worked in the US, while private medical insurance companies in Britain are already offering discounts to people who regularly go to the gym.

Should the overweight be paid to slim? Should employers monitor their employees’ fitness regimes?

What is the best way to encourage people to lead a healthier lifestyle?

http://tinyurl.com/3dm5kk

Posted by peiper     on 01/24/2008 at 06:42 AM   
Filed Under: • Government • Health-Medicine •  
• Comments (3) • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink •  

   Monday - January 21, 2008

IDIOT LUNACY AS USUAL BUT YA HAVE TO LAUGH

A couple of weeks ago I posted my story on the Health and Safety lunacy and it’s extremes here in the UK.

Well, here’s some more.  It never ends.

Put away your arms, drama group is told
By Richard Savill

Last Updated: 1:43am GMT 19/01/2008

A village amateur dramatic group performing Robinson Crusoe has had to tell police about the use of plastic swords because of health and safety fears.

The Carnon Downs Drama Group, at Perranwell, Cornwall, must lock up its two plastic cutlasses, six wooden swords and a toy gun when they are not in use and appoint a “responsible guardian” for them.The group said it informed police about the use of replica weapons after studying new health and safety guidelines and new legislation to crack down on violent crime.

Later this month, about 700 people are due to attend six performances of the group’s pantomime, featuring several swashbuckling sword fights A co-director, Linda Barker, said: “In some scenes pirates hit each other with frying pans and saucepan lids but there’s no problem with them."We have got several wooden and plastic swords, two plastic spears and a gun that cost £2 from a joke shop. But now we need to keep them locked away.

“The National Operatic and Drama Association said it supported the new policy because “it enables weapons to be used safely and legally in theatrical performances”.

http://tinyurl.com/2p5jww

Posted by peiper     on 01/21/2008 at 12:15 PM   
Filed Under: • Government • Health-Medicine • Insanity • Stoopid-People •  
• Comments (4) • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink •  

   Wednesday - January 16, 2008

Vicious Disease Raises New Health Concerns For Gays

This is really some nasty shiz folks. One of the worst strains of MRSA, a variant known as USA300, has hit the urban gay zones all over the country. Gay men are 13 times more likely to catch it than the rest of the population. In San Francisco health officials think that more than 1 in 600 people in the city’s gayest neighborhood already have the disease. That’s on the edge of a for-real CDC epidemic.

It is suspected that the virus is sexually transmitted.

A strain called USA300 has been a leading cause of MRSA infection in this decade, and an exceptionally drug-resistant variant of it is now on the loose, researchers say.

The study estimated that 1 in 588 residents living within the Castro neighborhood 94114 ZIP code area is infected with that variant, which is resistant to six types of commonly used antibiotics. The risk of contracting this difficult-to-treat bug is 13 times greater for gay men than for the rest of the city’s population, researchers found.

“We probably had it here first, and now it is spreading elsewhere,” said Binh An Diep, a researcher at San Francisco General Hospital and lead author of the report. “This is a national problem, and San Francisco is at the epicenter.”

The germ typically causes boils and other skin and soft-tissue infections and, despite its resistance to some drugs, is still treatable by surgical drainage and several classes of antibiotics. What is unusual in this case is the high percentage of infections - up to 40 percent - occurring in the buttocks and genitalia.

Although researchers have stopped short of declaring this form of staph a sexually transmitted disease, the infections are found where skin-to-skin contact occurs during sexual activity.

Most of the infections are limited to the skin surface, but the bacteria can invade deeper tissues or disseminate through the bloodstream. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, various forms of MRSA are causing 95,000 of these more costly and potentially life-threatening infections - and 19,000 deaths - annually in the United States.

Read about it at FoxNews
Read about at the NYT
Read about it at SF Gate
Read about it at Med Page

It has already been proven to be resistant to many antibiotics.

As if it wasn’t hard enough for these folks, now they’ve got this to deal with. Stay healthy people, and Wrap That Rascal^tm, or else!!

Posted by Drew458     on 01/16/2008 at 11:55 AM   
Filed Under: • Health-Medicine •  
• Comments (5) • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink •  

DISCLAIMER

THE SERVICES AND MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE HOSTS OF THIS SITE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS.

Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere

It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

THE INFORMATION AND OTHER CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE DESIGNED TO COMPLY WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS WEBSITE SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ALL PARTIES IRREVOCABLY SUBMIT TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE AMERICAN COURTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPLICABLE IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY, THEN THIS WEBSITE IS NOT INTENDED TO BE ACCESSED BY PERSONS FROM THAT COUNTRY AND ANY PERSONS WHO ARE SUBJECT TO SUCH LAWS SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO USE OUR SERVICES UNLESS THEY CAN SATISFY US THAT SUCH USE WOULD BE LAWFUL.

Copyright © 2004-2008 Domain Owner